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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28766364">Amber: A History</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jld_az/pseuds/jld_az'>jld_az</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:34:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,341</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28766364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jld_az/pseuds/jld_az</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>First thing? <b><span class="u">SPOILERS!!!</span></b> I cannot stress that enough, yo.</p><p>While my <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709362">And We Are Merely Players</a> series pulls from Zelazny's canon, I've tagged it as 'Canon Parallel w/ Copious Artistic License' for a reason. /g</p><p>So here's the canon for <em>my</em> Amberverse, because one of my readers asked for it, and I'm a sucker for that sorta thing.</p><p>Now I was <em>trying</em> to keep it spoiler-free by redacting things that have not been revealed to readers in one story or another, but that proved to be a serious pain in the ass. So...</p><p><b>If you're still working thru the series, and are the type who would rather learn things as they are revealed in the narrative, you should absolutely SKIP THIS ENTIRELY</b>. Final warning.</p><p>Anyone who gives zero F's about spoiler'y content however, feel free to consult this document like a timeline. Since I tend to drop things in nonlinearly, it should help clarify what / when things actually happened at the very least, but possibly at the cost of surprise and intrigue. Risk is yours, man.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Founding War - Paulette's Suicide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <ul>
<li>Dworkin steals the artifact known as the Eye of the Serpent and uses it to scribe the Primal Pattern, establishing the Realm of Order and the first Storm of Shadow. The conjuration comes at the cost of shattering the artifact. It splits into three segments: red, blue, and indigo.</li>
<li>Fearing retribution, House Barimen (including Oberon, his wife Cymnea, and their teenage sons, Osric and Finndo) makes a mass exodus from the Courts of Chaos, eventually finding their way through the Storm and settling on the continent later to become Amber.</li>
<li>The Founding War rages nearly fifty years, killing millions from both sides before the creation of the Pattern Blades heralds its end. Forged by Dworkin in the flames of the Primal Pattern, the blades are first wielded by Oberon (Aardbrekker), Cymnea (Feüermede), Osric (Werewindle), and Finndo (Greyswandir).</li>
<li>Oberon is the only one of the four to live past the war.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Over the decades that follow, the twin cities of Amber and Rebma are built and populated.</li>
<li>Dworkin departs to explore Shadow, leaving Oberon to guard the Pattern under Kolvir, who in turn names Cyrilla Delreial (Cymnea’s sister) as Stewardess of the undersea Pattern.</li>
<li>Oberon and Cyrilla are eventually crowned King and Queen of their respective nations.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>As his first Queen, Oberon marries Faiella, eldest daughter of Rebma’s Maven of Arms. In commemoration, the cairn of Faiella-Bionin is built at the site of Bionin’s Reef, and Rebma becomes the foundation for the Golden Circle.</li>
<li>Oberon sires three children by Faiella over the next fifteen years: Corwin, Eric, and Deirdre. The Queen dies in childbirth to Deirdre.</li>
<li>Mourning her loss, Oberon places Amber under the stewardship of his eldest son, Benedict (Cymnea’s youngest, born in the early years of the Founding War), and takes the first of many sabbaticals into Shadow.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Oberon returns some time later with Clarissa, a sorceress from a Shadow “far to the south” called Kashfa, which joins the Golden Circle upon their union and brings with it an influx of magical knowledge. Sage Hall is established in Amber City to foster this learning, and the Patronage of Sorceries is founded.</li>
<li>Benedict abdicates at this time, citing a desire to explore his own path in Shadow and not to rule in Reality. Oberon allows him to depart with the understanding that he will avail himself to Amber’s defence, should She need it. Benedict agrees; Oberon gifts him Werewindle, and sends him on his way.</li>
<li>Over the next twenty years, Oberon sires three children by Clarissa: Bleys, Fiona, and Brand.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Simultaneous to this marriage, and in a tradition widely practiced in the Courts, Oberon enters an Affair-of-Alliance with Moins (younger sister to Moire, who was Cyrilla’s successor as Queen of Rebma), and sires Llewella.</li>
<li>Moins takes ill late in her pregnancy, and the baby is delivered (premature, but viable) by emergency cesarean. An autopsy determines the Rebman woman’s flagging health was due to acute organ failure, brought about through gradual poisoning by gypsum root.</li>
<li>When Clarissa (who had given birth to Brand not seven months earlier) is uncovered to be the mastermind, Kashfa quickly denounces her solely to retain their Golden Circle status, asking only that the marriage not be annulled in order to preserve her childrens' legitimacy.</li>
<li>Oberon has Queen Clarissa and her cohorts publicly executed as an act of good faith to Queen Moire, and recognizes Llewella as his daughter for good measure.</li>
<li>Bleys and Fiona are 13 and 7, respectively. They remember these events well, and share them with Brand when he is old enough to understand.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Oberon marries Rilga, a native of Deig’a, as part of their Articles of Alliance in agreeing to join the Golden Circle.</li>
<li>Over twenty-six years he sires three children by her: Caine, Julian, and Gérard. The Queen dies in childbirth to Gérard.</li>
<li>Mourning her loss, Oberon places Amber under Corwin’s stewardship, and takes another sabbatical into Shadow.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Oberon seeks out Dworkin, who appears to have become slightly batty in his highly advanced age, and is living in a Shadow on the Central Plane at the junction of four elemental realms. Dworkin has been building a citadel there, with doors that open to different places in the multiverse.</li>
<li>They use one of these doors to visit the Primal Pattern. As they talk there, Oberon’s concerns about his father’s mental state grow — especially when Dworkin tells his son that ‘it’s all incomplete’, and he needs to find the other Eye to finish the work. Thinking back on the carnage of the Founding War, Oberon decides it might be best for everyone if Dworkin were holed up somewhere safe to live out his days.</li>
<li>He overpowers the old sorcerer, and tucks him away in a pocket Shadow which only he has access to. He then conjures a blood-bound creature to guard the entrance, enchanted to die when Dworkin does, and returns to Amber.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Oberon is pleased to discover that, while he was away, Corwin brought another nation into the Golden Circle in Malwain. As a show of gratitude, Corwin is awarded Greyswandir, and officially named as Heir Apparent.</li>
<li>Bleys is affronted, as he was the one who had first discovered Malwain, and introduced it to Corwin as a potential resource; yet his brother took all the recognition without a word about his part.</li>
<li>For years Bleys, Brand, and Fiona have been splitting their time equally between Sage Hall and its counterpart in Kashfa, Academ d’Mand; first as students, then as Faculty. When Fiona is ultimately selected to become Deputy Headmistress in Amber, her brothers make a point of relocating themselves in concession.</li>
<li>Bleys spends some years wandering Shadow instead, studying social engineering and political science.</li>
<li>Brand, too, wanders for a time, but focuses his attention on how much influence the Pattern can exert over any given Shadow.</li>
<li>Fiona uses her position at Sage Hall to cultivate an elite group of battle mages, precursors of the Scarlet Acolytes.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Oberon marries Dybele, a native of Begma, in a Golden Circle accord much like Deiga’s. He sires Florimel by her after much trial and tribulation.</li>
<li>When the birth leaves the Queen unable to bear more children, Oberon eventually divorces her on these grounds, but affords her an estate in Begma to pass her years in comfort.</li>
<li>Dybele becomes an Ambassador, and a spearhead Patron of the Arts before her death (by natural causes) at age 103.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>In a surprise to many, Julian is the first Prince of Amber to marry when, after a two year courtship, he proposes to Kaylani Rue Rozenberg Flynt, the eldest daughter of the Malwainese Ambassador.</li>
<li>The General of Arden sires two children by her: Katlyn Ariaunna and Lukas Tristan. Julian retains his active duty status in Arden, and the family migrates between the home he has built there (Avens Rest), and Lani's family seat in Malwain (Willow Trace).</li>
<li>Around the same time, Oberon marries Paulette, a native of Murn, as part of a now-familiar perk for joining the Golden Circle. He sires two children by her: Mirelle and Random. His young wife is overwhelmed by her daunting position however, and commits suicide shortly before her son's first birthday.</li>
</ul>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Paulette's Funeral - The Gheneshan War</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <ul>
<li>Oberon witnesses something at Paulette’s funeral which leads him to suspect his eldest grandchild (Aunna, 8) could be a Shapeshifter. When he confirms his suspicion a few days later, it rekindles a long-dormant idea to reconcile with the Courts as a way of expanding Amber’s gene pool without the continued dilution of Shadow blood.</li>
<li>Oberon once again places Amber under Corwin’s stewardship and heads into Shadow, where he meets privately with his Chaosian counterpart - Swayvill Hendrake - at a neutral location along the Central Plane to broker an alliance. Oberon offers up Corwin and Ariaunna in betrothal. Swayvill counters with Dara of House Helgram, and Borel of House Hendrake.</li>
<li>An accord is made. However, as both girls are pre-teens with much to learn en route to becoming suitable wives for their much older betrothed, the two Kings establish a list of criteria to be achieved by all parties involved before vows can be exchanged. They agree to reconvene in five years’ time, per the clock of the pocket Shadow they’ve established to hold summit in, and part ways.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Upon returning to Amber, Oberon learns that Kashfa has withdrawn itself from the Golden Circle in his absence. Its young new Queen (Jasra) has declared their core principles are no longer in alignment, and cited the need to do what’s best for her nation as a whole.</li>
<li>While Corwin drunkenly confides in Eric that he believes Bleys had a hand in the cessation (likely as retribution for the slight over Malwain), the Heir Apparent has no evidence to substantiate his suspicion, and ultimately holds himself responsible for the failure to keep Kashfa under Amber’s Banner. He vows to locate and recruit a replacement, and departs into Shadow.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Oberon begins grooming Aunna for her future role by enlisting a native of Weirholden named Raðwyck Tzenhøldt to act as her Mentor in Shapeshifting. The King also impresses on her the importance of keeping this ability under wraps, as knowledge of it would open her up to the jealousy and resentment of her peers.</li>
<li>In this, Aunna tells her grandfather that Mirelle already knows to some degree (the girls being less than a year apart in age, and the best of friends for it), but they had believed it was magic and agreed to hold the secret between them lest they be sent to different schools. Oberon gives her permission to continue that charade, but asks her to swear it’ll go no further. In her eagerness to learn more, Aunna agrees to his request.</li>
<li>At age 14, Mirelle dies attempting to walk the Pattern. After her funeral, Aunna (13) confesses to Oberon that she feels like it was her fault, because she had slipped up and Miri had become envious of what she saw. Oberon agrees with her, and uses it to illustrate the point on maintaining secrecy.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Kaylani is killed in a Hunter’s Moon accident in Malwain. Devastated by her loss, Julian retreats into his job as General of Arden, and withdraws from the family at large, including his children. He does not object when Oberon sends Aunna (17) to be a Court Lady in Weirholden, and Tristan (12) begins passing all of his breaks from Arden Royal Military Academy with his mother’s kin at Willow Trace, or with the Westwood’s at Balfax Manor.</li>
<li>Aunna serves four years in Den Tzenhøldt, living as a ‘non-shifter’ in a realm full of Weir. Because of her outsider status and ‘inability’ to change form with the full moon, Aunna frequently passes time with Raðwyck’s son, Ðane, the Pack’s only surviving Lycaon (or non-shifting Weir).</li>
<li>After leaving Weirholden, Aunna (21) joins Tristan (17) at Arden Officer’s Finishing College. She signs up for the Cavalry following graduation, where her post with the 9th Cav sends her throughout the Golden Circle; and he enlists with the Rangers, affording him a chance to reconnect with their father on some level.</li>
</ul><hr/><ul>
<li>Word begins to circulate of unrest in Weirholden, and when Aunna writes Ðane for information, he tells her that the unexpected death of the Potentate resulted in a minor Pack leader named Ghenesh (a known purist zealot) unleashing a cult of followers upon the Capitol when he legitimately lost his bid for election, killing the elected victor in a coup. The incident has created a rift in Weir society between those who recognize the Tooth and Claw Doctrine and thus accept Ghenesh as Potentate, and those who believe Weir society has evolved beyond such base bestial practices.</li>
<li>As the months progress, Ghenesh’s true aims reveal themselves when he begins to have the Lycaon rounded up, and transported to camps for genetic processing to determine their value as ‘breeding stock’. Those deemed likely to bear True Weir offspring are turned loose, with the order to reproduce within the year, and present the offspring on its first full moon. Those who are not found suitable, or fail to beget shifting Weir, are summarily ‘euthanized’.</li>
<li>News of genecide spurs many in the Golden Circle to react, and immediately press their governing bodies to take action. Eventually Malwain and Begma actively arm the Weir Federalists in their fight against the Gheneshan Loyalists, and open their borders to Lycaon refugees; Rebma, Deig’a, and Murn respond by offering expansive land grants to the displaced; and Amber pledges to man a fort near each major settlement, to provide additional protection as they establish new homesteads.</li>
<li>Several refugee camps begin to spring up throughout the Golden Circle, but most extensively in Deig’a and Murn. The largest of these Lycaon groups, located in the Xinsaoirse Region of Deig’a, is the Holdfény Collective. It is managed chiefly by Ðane, whom Aunna lost touch with following his displacement from Weirholden. The 9th Cav are stationed at nearby Fort Xin, and the two reconnect.</li>
<li>When reports eventually come in that the conflict has been resolved - that Ghenesh has been ousted, and all of Weirholden’s expats are being invited back to participate in the free election of a new Potentate - a majority of the Holdfény declare intent to go cast their vote, and Captain Phipps offers up the 9th to escort them. There is a mild celebration the evening before their departure, and during that time the entire population is poisoned in a synchronized attack on several Lycaon refugee camps. Aunna is one of 84 survivors recovered by Fort Xin: 6/104 from the 9th Cav, and 78/2135 Lycaon.</li>
<li>The brutal act - which history calls the Eradication of the Holdfény Collective - boasts the highest single-location kill count of the entire three-year conflict. It also marks the final salvo of the Gheneshan War, as a contingent of Rangers (Tristan among them) hunt down and execute Ghenesh five days later.</li>
<li>Aunna (29) resigns her commission as a First Lieutenant shortly after her release from MedCorps. Oberon awards her His Majesty’s Courtesy in recognition of her service, and Feüermede as Commendation, before granting her request to go explore Shadow on her own.</li>
</ul>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kudos are love :) Comments are moderated (for spam, not content), but always welcome. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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